Acoustics Define your acoustic strategy and goals EQ your auxiliary busses pre- and post-effects Don’t hesitate to compress your effects Calibrate your effects Keep some sounds dry if it sounds better Mix the reverbs a few dBs quieter than you originally thought Talking to: Martin Stig Andersen, Composer and Game Audio Specialist 9. Dynamic Favor leveling instead of compression to control volume Compression can be efficient to ‘glue’ things together Parallel compression can be used to add impact and aggressiveness in your mix You can use (tonal) compression to make a sound or sound category feel ‘bigger’ Multi-step compression usually sounds more natural Talking to: Ben Minto, Company Director and Supervising Sound Designer 8. Frequency spectrum Corrections are on the contents level Further spectral balance adjustment between sound categories might be necessary too Consider your game audio end-point(s) when working with frequencies Subtractive equalizations sound more natural Beware of not changing the character of your sounds The energy and the sense of scale are in the lows The noisy range is around 2KHz The clarity, sharpness, and proximity feel are in the highs Talking to: Tim Nielsen, Supervising Sound Editor, Sound Designer and Re-Recording Mixer 7. Sound prioritization If you don’t need to hear something, don’t play it! Get your focal point(s) identified and sounding right first to build the rest of your mix around Determine other priorities around the focal point(s) Critical sounds take priority over non-critical sounds Adopt the rule of 2.5 as much as possible Snapshots are efficient to deliver a clear and interesting mix that feels alive, changing the focus for different gameplay or narrative instances Cull on audio emitter levels to keep control over your mix HDR is handy to reduce manual labor and for immediate results on busy gameplay instances Use side-chaining to provide extra preciseness in your mix Use ducking only when it sounds natural Transitions are always key for a smooth experience 6.
Mix bus structure Aim at a top-down approach first The more modular the structure, the better Categories and sub-categories of sounds can be mixed directly on the bus level The bus structure can be used for sounds prioritization Talking to: Rev. Game audio mixing basics Mix at the right playback level Consider your screen size Listen to your mix at different positions in the room Always mix and test in context Make sure your contents sounds right at source Work on your volumes first and foremost When in doubt on a sound (or a category of sounds), lower your volume fader all the way down and bring it back up gradually Use a hardware controller (or don’t look at the volume fader value) when tweaking the mix Mix things over time to keep your mix alive and interesting Work closely with other disciplines to improve the mix Talking to: Adele Cutting, Audio Director and Voice Director 4. Strategic planning Find references and make an assessment Build a mixing vision Benchmark a few contents and mix them right away Extract guidelines and rules from your benchmark mix Define and design the tools you need to achieve your vision The agile methodology is great to plan for macro mixing Leverage ‘L-states’ to have greater visibility on your long-term planning, and to better define roles and responsibilities for the mix The waterfall methodology can be better adapted to micro mixing Set goals for any mix sessions Put together a mixing taskforce Get access to a large variety of playback devices 3. Mixing psychology Envision mixing as a performance Aim to reach a flow-state as quickly as possible Mixing is all about making creative choices Practice as much as you can and never stop learning Don’t live by your tools Believe (in yourself) Learn to know when to stop Taking a step backward can be your best way forward Keep a fresh perspective Break the rules Talking to: Gordon Durity, Executive Audio Director 2. Table of contents : Cover Half Title Endorsement Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of figures List of tables List of boxes About the author Preface Acknowledgements Introduction 1.